Bishop Bike Adventure Day 15 July 15, 2010

Today was a light riding day, mostly downhill. We passed by Lolo Peak, which is the snow-capped mountain in the picture, before arriving in Missoula, MT where we ran some errands, the most important of which was to take the bikes to a bike shop and have them checked over. They checked out well with only a few minor adjustments. We also did laundry (the conventional way) and replenished groceries.

We did not fully appreciate until starting our trip that a bicycle trip of this nature is more than simply pedaling away. Much of it is about time management and scheduling. For example, each day requires similar repetitive tasks that take time. As discussed previously, there are personal hygiene requirements to make sure that bike clothes do not cause sores. We have electronic devices that need recharging on a regular basis. Because we have two bikes with 5 storage sacks each, with each storage sack containing multiple storage (in order to both organize our possessions and minimize the capacity requirements through compression), we find ourselves daily packing and unpacking to locate needed items for living. We also have a requirement to prepare water bottles, some with special energy drink mixes. We each are using three water bottles plus a “Camelbak” that holds 70 ounces. We originally thought this might be overkill, but have discovered quite the opposite--we would have been sunk without this capacity. We also need to manage our sleep and nutrition. Throw in camping setup and breakdown, and the time requirement increases. We are biking anywhere from 4 hours to 9 hours per day. And we are trying to keep family and friends informed. So we are still learning to manage these areas and have developed more respect for them. OK--what can we say? It’s a hard life but somebody has to do it! It continues to be a very enjoyable and blessed experience.

We were blessed upon check-in at our motel, the Ponderosa Lodge, by the proprietor who is running a ministry with his wife to help people going through divorce. When he learned about the Hopeline, he took special interest and blessed us with a discounted rate.

Missoula seems like a very nice city--clean, neat, with friendly people. Several noticed our bikes and took special interest in our trip. The city is very bicycle friendly with routes and lanes to accommodate them. Its population is around 60,000 people. The University of Montana is located here.

Tomorrow, we are headed to more remote areas. We expect to log enough miles to land us at another motel by the end of the day.